Policy think tank, IMANI Africa, says the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) has national responsibility for human vulnerability but lacks the money, authority, frontline personnel and institutional architecture to match that responsibility.
That was the single most important finding from a high-level engagement between IMANI and the leadership of the Ministry on Tuesday, September 8, 2026.
The meeting forms part of IMANI’s broad strategy to initiate structured engagements with key Ministers of State and their technical teams to foster a deeper understanding of the operational realities of each sector.
In a brief compiled by IMANI President, Franklin Cudjoe, and its Associate, Kay Codjoe, following the engagement, it said public policy execution is complex and standard public reporting often fails to capture the nuances of governance.
“Our objective for these visits is to foster a deeper, empirically grounded understanding of the operational realities and strategic trajectory of each sector,” the IMANI brief stated.
The discussions, centred on baseline assessment, vision and performance tracking, operational challenges and milestones, pointed to seven major structural problems crippling the Ministry.
According to IMANI, social protection responsibilities are scattered across ministries and local government structures, creating mandate fragmentation, while the Ministry is nationally accountable for outcomes it does not fully control at the district level.
The think tank also cited severe frontline weakness, noting that Social Welfare reportedly has a 51.3 per cent staffing deficit.
On funding, IMANI revealed a major budget distortion where LEAP and School Feeding absorb approximately 94.7 per cent of the Ministry’s budget.
“In the last budget only GHS 1.7 million was allocated to domestic abuse matters country wide,” the brief noted.
Other challenges include infrastructure deficit in shelters and rehabilitation centres, professionalism deficit at the district level, and measurement failure.
“The Ministry has national responsibility for human vulnerability, but neither the money, authority, frontline personnel nor institutional architecture presently matches the scale of that responsibility,” the brief stressed.
The IMANI team was led by Franklin Cudjoe, while the Chief Director of the Ministry, Dr Marian Kpakpa, led the technical team on behalf of the Minister.
Adwumawura’s 54,000 jobs target too low to tackle unemployment – IMANI
